EP04: India's Supreme Court's Judgement on Ocean Freight

Under India GST Law, importer in India was required to discharge GST under reverse charge on deemed value of ocean freight services under any CIF (i.e. Cost, Insurance and Freight) contract of import. The trade and industry challenged this levy and argued that since value of ocean freight services is already a part of assessable value of imported goods for the purpose of discharging customs duty and IGST on import, it will result into double taxation.Recently, the Supreme Court of India, has given rest to this long-drawn issue and pronounced landmark judgment in the case of Union of India vs M/s. Mohit Minerals. It has been held that levy of IGST under reverse charge on ocean freight services would vitiate the concept of ‘composite levy’ and go against the whole scheme of GST and hence, the appeal of the revenue was dismissed. In effect, the decision of the High Court, wherein the notifications, which provided for levy of IGST, were held to be un-constitutional, has been upheld.